20nm seems to be the new cutting-edge process for memory production, but Intel and Micron might be surprised to find Hynix has just surpassed them. The Korean manufacturer has used the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) to announce it has managed to manufacture Middle-1Xnm-generation NAND Flash. That seems to be a fancy name given to memory chips produced at the 15nm scale.

In order to move to the smaller process, Hynix had to overcome a number of hurdles. The two biggest problems were holes appearing in the control gates which made from polycrystalline silicon, and electric charge leaking from the floating gates situated next to the control gates.

The holes in the control gates is an issue created by the small amount of space available to use on a chip of this size. Hynix worked around the issue by increasing the space available where the control gates get embedded. That additional space was recovered by reducing the width of the floating gates.

Stopping electric charge leaks required multiple techniques to solve. Firstly, Hynix improved its manufacturing process to ensure better air gaps are created in the insulating film embedded in each chip. By doing so the electric filed required between the control and floating gate can be reduced by 20%. Hynix also applied a higher voltage to the word lines adjacent to the one being written. Not only does that reduce leakage, it also increases data write speeds.

Hynix intends to start volume production of Middle-1Xnm NAND flash memory in the second half of 2012, meaning even more storage space in a smaller footprint, reduced power use, and hopefully faster data access in the resulting memory products that use them. The question is, will competitors such as Intel and Micron be in a position to compete at the 15nm scale just 6 months from now?